1. Technical Field
This invention relates, generally, to golf clubs and, in particular, to a putter golf club head having high-density heel and toe inserts.
2. Background Information
A golfer's putting stroke is highly individualized, depending not only on the mechanical properties of the golf club, but also upon complex subjective and psychological factors. Thus, a putter club head may be designed to prioritize one particular mechanical characteristic of the club head over other competing and equally important characteristics of the club.
For example, it is often desirable to incorporate heel and toe weighting into a club head body to increase the moment of inertia of the club. This increased moment of inertia tends to decrease club head twisting in the event the golfer strikes the golf ball off-center. In an effort to increase the moment of inertia, prior art club heads generally utilize a low-density material (such as aluminum) for the club head body in conjunction with a higher density material for the heel and toe weights.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,508,350 discloses a golf club putter having a high polar moment of inertia provided by forming the club head body out of aluminum. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,915,385 discloses metallic (e.g., copper) heel and toe weights used in conjunction with a lower-density (e.g., aluminum) club head.
While the use of low-density materials for the club head body may help to increase the club head's moment of inertia, such materials exhibit undesirable mechanical properties for some golfers. For example, many golfer's prefer a hard, highly-responsive solid metal surface and the attendant “hard” sound and feel when striking a golf ball. Low-density materials such as aluminum do not typically provide this type of response.